Chapter Twenty Navigating the Internet

Objectives To learn about the history of the Internet To examine the infrastructure of our electronic world To take a look at some of the organizations that maintain order out of mayhem

A Little History (1 of 2) Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider writes On-Line Man Computer Communication and describes the “Galactic Network.” Leonard Kleinrock writes Information Flow in Large Communication Nets which leads to the development of TCP. Vincent Cerf and Robert Kahn present A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication which describes TCP.

A Little History (2 of 2) Lawrence Roberts and Leonard Kleinrock get two unlike computers to talk over a telephone wire on opposite sides of the continent in In 1969, four computers in different parts of the country are linked to form ARPANET. Al Gore is still in a Government Studies program at Harvard.

The Foundation of the Internet User’s PC User’s datacom The local loop carrier The ISP point of presence User services ISP backbone Online content Origin of content

User’s PC The computer that initiates a request of an Internet resource Must be equipped with some form of transceiver Must be running some form of Internet-aware file system (browser) Must be configured with TCP/IP

User’s Datacom Data communications device Modem DSL or cable modem

Local Loop Carrier The circuit that brings the user request from the datacom to the Internet service provider (ISP) Most usually a telephone line Cable modems bring it over the cable system

ISP Point of Presence The point where the ISP taps into the Internet backbone Frequently a key source of congestion –If an ISP has 10,000 subscribers and a 1.5MB POP, that’s 10,000 unhappy puppies.

User Services Generally provided by the ISP, including: –Domain name services – hosting services –Web hosting –FTP services –Newsgroup services –Bulletin board services

The ISP Backbone It is a high-speed cable that transmits the blended signals of millions of people at once. Major metropolitan areas will have several network access points (NAP). –Large ISPs who tap into the backbone Each major communications carrier maintains their own backbone circuitry. –Agreements between providers assure seamless transmission of data.

Online Content These are the web servers that host different sites. –Very large websites (large corporations, government agencies, and such) maintain dedicated sites –Companies with large servers offer hosting to smaller organizations who don’t need a dedicated site

Origin of Content The actual web page you view A universal resource locater (URL) –An address that points to each specific page on a website Each URL constitutes origin of content

Administering the Internet Different agencies oversee different aspects –Administration –Engineering –Security Most of these agencies under the oversight of the Internet Society (ISOC)

Administration Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) –Doles out IP addresses and domain names –Helped by the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)

Engineering Internet Engineering Planning Group (IEPG) –Oversees development of new segments and manages acceptable use policies North American Network Operators Group (NANOG) has primary responsibility

Security Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) –Monitors outbreaks of viruses –Watches for criminal activity on the Internet